Johnny Mnemonic (character)
The main character of "Johnny Mnemonic". In the film adaptation he is played by Keanu Reeves. Description He is a basic sharp-faced Caucasoid with a ruff of stiff, dark hair. He underwent a cosmetic surgery at Under the Knife, but the girl nurses were big fans of Sony Mao, and they insisted on adding the chic suggestion of epicanthic folds. Background He is a young data trafficker in the Sprawl who makes a modest living by physically transporting sensitive information for corporations, underworld crime rings or wealthy individuals. He has undergone cybernetic surgery to have a data storage system implanted in his head, where he stores digital encrypted data too sensitive to risk transmission on computer networks; the data are fed in through a modified series of microsurgical contra autism prostheses and then stored in a special chip. The data can be unlocked by a password known only to the intended recipient: Johnny enters a trance-like "idiot savant" state (a rocedure less abrut than he always expects) while the data is being transferred or the password is being set, making him unaware of the contents and unable to retrieve it, even when drugged or tortured. The only way to recover the password is with Squids. He considered himself "technical", so he pretended to be "crude" to confuse the adversaries. He was hired by Ralfi Face and had hundreds of megabytes stashed in his head. However Ralfi later learned that this sensitive data was stolen from the Yakuza and didn't came back for it. Then he heard that Ralfi wanted to put out a contract on him. Wanting his money (and the astronomical charge for overtime storage) he arranged to meet him in the Drome, as Edward Bax, clandestine importer, late of Rio and Peking. He bought pointed black shoes for this guise. He was equipped with a sawed-off shotgun. He turned two 12-gauge shells from brass stock, on the lathe, and then dug up an old microfiche with instructions for hand-loading cartridges; he had to build a lever-action press to seat the primers, and had the triggers wired together. Johnny Mnemonic Preparing for the meeting he put his gear in an Adidas bag and rode the tube 3 stops past the closest platform and walked back so that he'd lose any pursuers. He found Ralfi at his usual table and sat before his bodyguard Lewis could react and said that he has an antique firearm in his bag, sliding his hand in it. Ralfi explained the situation to him, and Lewis then triggered a neural disruptor they'd taped under Johnny's side of the table, immobilizing him. He could feel the metal and the foam-padded tape but couldn't wrap around the stubby grip, despite putting all his strength to move his index. He hoped Lewis would foolishly go for the gym bag and snag his rigid trigger finger, but he didn't. Then came Molly Millions, looking for a job, incapacitating Lewis. She released Johnny, who quickly offered her 2 million in order to hire her as a bodyguard, to which Ralfi didn't respond. Molly talked with the Magnetic Dog Sisters while Johnny ushered Ralfi through the door, holding the bag with the weapon behind him. As they exited, maybe because he never got used to the soaring arcs of light and the shadows of the geodesics above him, he glanced up, out of some passing reflex. Maybe this saved him because Ralfi continued walking when an assassin showed up; Johnny looked down just in time to see Ralfi cut to pieces. Johnny lifted his gym bag and shot with his hidden shotgun (the recoil almost broke his wrist), but he missed thanks to the assassin's enhanced reflexes. He and Molly crouched while the police investigated. Molly suggested to hide in the Pit of Nighttown. As he explained the situation and technology implanted to his head, Molly thought bringing him to Jones a cyborg dolphin equipped with a Squid, living in the abandoned Funland. Through symbols, he made Johnny understand Ralfi's password: "Christian White and his Aryan Reggae Band" and wrote it on a paper for Molly (as he would be unable to say or hear it). The pair visits the office of a broadcast pirate and persuade him to break into the Yakuza Comsat in order to blackmail Yakuza. He put two records in 2 desks and, when Molly read the phrase, he automatically recited the stolen program for the following 3 hours. They sent a copy to a storage space in Sydney. category:characters